(5) Suginami-ku
Time: 12:20pm
We are at Koenji Station (pronounced “koen-JI”) in Suginami-ku (pronounced “sugi-NA-mi”). ( Map ).
Most stations on Chuo Line, including Koenji, have a lot of space around them. This is not always the same with stations on other railway lines in Tokyo.
Honestly, I can’t really tell you much about Suginami. This is likely to be my first time walking in this city, and it is definitely my first time visiting the Koenji Station area.
I do know a couple of things about Suginami-ku, though.
This city is famous for its shopping streets and the Awa Odori dance festival. This festival originates in Tokushima prefecture, but the Tokyo version of it is held here, in Koenji, every year in August.
I plan to visit more places in Suginami-ku later, and share my impressions on this blog.
But for now, we will continue our journey around 23 cities. We are going to take Chuo Line again to get to our next destination. It only takes a couple of minutes.
(6) Nakano-ku
Time: 10.30am
We are in Nakano-ku (pronounced “na-KA-no”), and we are walking around Nakano Station ( Map ).
This is the Sunplaza Shopping Center. Nakano City office is right next to it.
There is another shopping street in this area, called Nakano Broadway. It is the place for anime fans. I actually do see a lot of foreign visitors at Nakano station today. My guess is that many of them are looking for anime-related stuff.
Again, at the moment, I can’t really tell you much about Nakano-ku, as I am not familiar with it myself. This is my first time at Nakano Station.
One thing I do know is that Nakano-ku is smaller than its neighbours, Suginami-ku and Nerima-ku, in both geographical area and population. In addition, Nakano-ku shares the second / third place with Arakawa-ku in population density.
Now, we are taking the Chuo Line again, going from Nakano Station to our next city.
(7) Shinjuku-ku
Time: 12:45pm
Shinjuku Station is only 4 minutes away from Nakano on the express train.
The station itself is a Tokyo’s landmark. It has one of the biggest amounts of passenger traffic in the world. About 3.5 million commuters use it every day. The station has 8 railway lines and 3 subway lines. It also has about 200 exits.
We are heading to Nishishinjuku (West Shinjuku). It is the area of skyscrapers and trees. It is a short walk, takes less than 10 minutes to get there.
This part of Shinjuku-ku (pronounced “shin-ju-KU”) is where the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is located. It is often shown on maps as the center of Tokyo.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government building is the third tallest office building in the city. There is an observation platform there. It is free to visit.
So, what are some other places to visit in Shinjuku-ku?
Shops and restaurants around Shinjuku station. And Shinjuku-Gyoen, one of the most famous parks in Tokyo.
But now it is time to continue our journey around 23 cities. We will take the Yamanote Line train from Shinjuku Station to the next city on our itinerary.
(8) Shibuya-ku
Time: 1:10pm
Did you know that the southern part of Shinjuku Station is actually located in Shibuya-ku, and not in Shinjuku-ku? So, technically, we can get to Shibuya-ku (pronounced “shi-bu-YA”) without leaving Shinjuku Station.
After a 5 minutes train ride, we are at Shibuya Station. You can easily recognize the place when you see Hachiko Statue.
This is the Jujo Station (pronounced JU-u JO-o) ( Map ) on the JR Saikyo Line.
We don’t really have much time to spend in Kita-ku today, since we have 19 other cities to visit. So, we will just take a quick tour around the Jujo Station area.
Do you want to know one interesting thing about Kita-ku?
It is the only city in Tokyo that has both a Yamanote Line station (Tabata) and a border with another prefecture (Saitama).
If you are not really familiar with Tokyo geography, here is a simpler way of understanding it. Kita-ku is quite spread out from north to south, from a border with Saitama to the centrally-located Yamanote Line.
If I had to recommend some places to visit in Kita-ku, I would choose Ukima Park and Asukayama Park.
Ukima Park is one of the most beautiful parks I have visited in Tokyo so far. It is located both in Kita-ku and Itabashi-ku.
But these two parks are pretty far from the Jujo Station, where we are now.
So, we are going to take the Saikyo Line train from here to Shinjuku Station. Then, we will transfer to Chuo Line to get the next city.
Continue reading:
Part 2
Suginami-ku (5) to Setagaya-ku (12)
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